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University of Twente Initiative for Purchasing Studies (UTIPS) 4/16 Sounds nice, but problems may occur (‘bears on the road’)  Small and intensive groups do not always flourish  It’d help if we know what factors influence success Introduction3 / 19

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University of Twente Initiative for Purchasing Studies (UTIPS) 14/16 Categories without success factors Findings and discussion  Trust and formality (consistent with Hoffmann & Schlosser, 2001) –Inconsistent with a.o. Schotanus (2005) –Important when establishing, but prerequisites for managing a group –Explanation by awareness and the methods used  Member uniformity –Inconsistent with a.o. Hendrick (1997) –Groups with member with (dis)similar cultures and procedures can be (un)successful –Similar explanations as for trust plus the specific context 13 / 19

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University of Twente Initiative for Purchasing Studies (UTIPS) 15/16 Categories with success factors (1/3) Findings and discussion  Enforcement of cooperation (consistent with Brockhoff, 1992) –Participation should bring savings and attract without enforcement –Still, if a member cooperates, it needs to commit –Enforcement & influence problems are typical for BU groups  Member cooperation (consistent with Hoffmann & Schlosser (2001) and communication (consistent with Laing & Cotton, 1997) –Factors such as sufficient total contribution of efforts show that success doesn’t occur as a matter of course –Some knowledge and efforts are necessary to coordinate, communicate, etc. 14 / 19

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University of Twente Initiative for Purchasing Studies (UTIPS) 16/16 Categories with success factors (2/3) Findings and discussion  Commitment (consistent with Doucette, 1997) and support –If members often change representatives, this may hamper learning effects + not a sign of commitment –If a member isn’t committed, then the others may also reduce their commitment (Doucette, 1997)  Common objectives (consistent with Laing and Cotton, 1997) and influence of the group members –Factors identified are similar goals & all have a similar influence –Without similar goals, it costs more to synchronize –Without influence, members’ interests may be ‘forgotten’ 15 / 19

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University of Twente Initiative for Purchasing Studies (UTIPS) 17/16 Categories with success factors (3/3) Findings and discussion  Allocation of savings –Fair allocation is important, but difficult for purchasing groups –It may prevent conflicts and members leaving the group  Allocation of gains –87% uses Equal Price –13% uses methods that are more beneficial to large members  Allocation of costs –30% uses no formal method –29% uses a proportional method –29% uses Equal Amount or a fixed membership fee  What’s a fair and successful combination? 16 / 19